This invention relates to a card connector for use in various electric and electronic appliances such as printers, card readers and the like for inputting and outputting signals into and from memory cards of a plurality of kinds inserted into the card connector, and more particularly to a card connector having a structure permitting one memory card only to be inserted at a time.
In recent years, with the widespread use of digital cameras and the like, memory cards having a large storage capacity and a compact shape have been used. A wide variety of cards have been used depending upon characteristics and the like of appliances with which the memory cards are used, and therefore card connectors adapted to accommodate cards of a plurality of kinds will be favorable. With such card connectors adapted to receive the cards of different kinds, however, it will be required to prevent a plurality of cards from being inserted into a card connector at a time.
Card connectors have been proposed, which may enable cards of a plurality of kinds to be received and prevent a further card from being inserted into a card connector when a first card has been inserted therein.
As examples of such card connectors, incorporated herein are United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0025019 (Patent Literature 1), and as those proposed by the applicant of the present application, Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 2005-340,141 (Patent Literature 2), Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 2006-120,482 (Patent Literature 3), and Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 2007-250,324 (Patent Literature 4).
Patent Literature 1
The card connector according to the United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0025019 comprises an insulating housing 1 defining adjacent card cavities 11, 12, 13 and 14; a plurality of card contacts 2, 3, 4 and 5 retained in the housing to expose to the corresponding card cavities; and at least one controlling member 6 or 7 disposed in the housing between the two card cavities, and comprising upper and lower protrusions 62 and 63 deflected between the two card cavities and protruding into the one card cavity when a card has been inserted into the other card cavity, and a resilient portion 61 for urging the upper and lower protrusions to resume their original positions when the card has been withdrawn from the other cavity.
Patent Literature 2
The card connector removably receiving a plurality of memory cards disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 2005-340,141, includes a required number of contacts 13 adapted to contact connecting portions of the memory cards 45, and a housing 12 arranging and holding the contacts 13 therein and having a plurality of inserting openings 23 into which the plurality of memory cards 45 are inserted, respectively, wherein the housing 12 is provided at predetermined positions with at least one locking member 20 movable or pivotally movable when a memory card is inserted and with at least one spring member 18 displaceable when the memory card is inserted, thereby enabling one memory card only to be inserted when another memory card has been inserted with the aid of the locking member 20 and the spring member 18.
Patent Literature 3
The card connector into which a plurality of memory cards 50 are removably inserted, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 2006-120,482 includes a plurality of contacts 14 adapted to contact connection portions of the plurality of the memory cards 50, and a housing 12 arranging and holding the contacts 14 therein and having a plurality of inserting openings 22 into which the plurality of memory cards are inserted, respectively, wherein the card connector comprises a required number of sliders 20 arranged at predetermined positions in the housing 12 for forming parts of the plurality of inserting openings, and a required number of holders 18 arranged at predetermined positions in the housing for movably holding the sliders 20, thereby preventing more than one memory card from being inserted into the card connector by means of the sliders 20 at a time.
Patent Literature 4
The card connector into and from which two memory cards are detachably inserted and removed disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 2007-250,324 includes contacts 14 and 16 of two kinds for the two memory cards 501 and 502, respectively, each adapted to contact a connection portion of the memory card, and a housing 12 having two inserting openings 221 and 222 each into which the respective memory card is inserted and arranging and holding the contacts, wherein the two inserting openings 221 and 222 provided in the housing are arranged one above the other substantially in parallel relationship, and an insertion-preventing member 20 is arranged in a position between the inserting openings so as not to contact the contacts of two kinds so that once either of the memory cards has been inserted, the other memory card is prevented from being inserted by means of the insertion-preventing member.
In the Patent Literature 1 (United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0025019), first and second resilient members 6 and 7 serve to prevent a plurality of cards from being inserted at a time. Now, the first resilient member 6 will be considered because the second resilient member 7 is similar in operation to the first resilient member 6. The first resilient member 6 formed from a sheet metal comprises a securing portion 60, a resilient portion 61, and a first stopper having an upper protrusion 62 and a lower protrusion 63. The securing portion 60 is secured in a locking slot 1022 formed in the housing, and the first stopper having the upper and lower protrusions 62 and 63 is disposed in a groove 1021 formed in the housing. When a CF card is inserted into the CF card cavity 11, the CF card engages and pushes the upper protrusion 62 downwardly along the groove 1021 with the aid of elastic deformation of the resilient portion 61. As a result of this, the lower protrusion 63 extends into the SD/MMC card cavity 12, the MS card cavity 13 and the XD card cavity 14. In this case, the prevention of the insertion of other memory cards relies upon the elastic deformation of the resilient member 6. Therefore, the prevention of the insertion of the other cards would lack accuracy and reliability. The installation of the resilient member 6 in the locking slot 1022 and groove 1021 formed in the housing would have a risk of dislodgment of the resilient member from the card connector over time and would increase the number of producing steps to increase a production cost.
In the Patent Literature 2 (Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 2005-340,141), the locking member 20 is substantially in the form of a triangular plate whose one vertex is pivotally mounted in the housing 12. When a memory card 45 is inserted into either of inserting holes 23 arranged side by side in the lower stage of the connector, the memory card 45 pushes one vertex 34 of the locking member 20 so as to cause the other vertex 34 to extend into the remaining inserting hole 23, thereby preventing a memory card from being inserted into the remaining inserting hole 23. The spring member 18 made of a metal includes a fixed portion 29 to be fixed to the housing 12, an elastic portion 28 and two extending portions 30 extending in both width directions. The spring member 18 is inserted into and fixed to the housing 12 such that the elastic portion 28 of the spring member 18 extends into the inserting hole 23 in the upper stage of the connector. When a memory card 45 is inserted into the inserting hole 23 in the upper stage of the housing 12, the memory card 45 pushes the elastic portion 28 of the spring member 18 downward to cause the two extending portions 30 of the spring member 18 to extend into the inserting holes 23 arranged side by side in the lower stage of the connector, thereby preventing a memory card 45 from being inserted into the inserting holes 23 in the lower stage after a memory card has been inserted in the inserting hole in the upper stage. The idea using an elastic member for preventing a memory card from being inserted is substantially similar to that in the Patent Literature 1 so that this construction would be devoid of accuracy and reliability and further there would be a tendency for the spring member 18 to be dislodged. Moreover, the operation for mounting the locking member 20 in the housing in a pivotally movable manner is complicated to increase the number of producing steps to increase a production cost.
In the Patent Literature 3 (the Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 2006-120,482), the slider 20 is substantially rectangular and formed from a plastic material but may be from a metal. The slider 20 comprises recesses 30, a protrusion 32, and an elongate inserting aperture 28 into which the holder 18 is inserted for the purpose of sliding the slider 20 along the holder in the directions of the thickness of the connector. The four recesses 30 form parts of inserting openings 221, 223, 224 and 225 arranged side by side and one above the other, and one protrusion 32 forms part of an inserting opening 222 arranged below and at an intermediate position of the four inserting openings. When a memory card is inserted into one inserting opening, this memory card is also simultaneously inserted into one of the recess corresponding to the inserting opening and moves the slider in the vertical direction so that the other recesses and the protrusion extend into the other inserting openings, thereby preventing another memory card from being inserted into the remaining inserting openings. Although this construction has an advantage for accommodating many kinds of memory cards, the construction would be complicated to increase its manufacturing cost, and would experience deterioration and failure over time.
In the Patent Literature 4 (the Japanese Patent Application Opened No. 2007-250,324), the insertion-preventing member 20 serves to prevent a further memory card from being inserted into the card connector after a memory card has been inserted. The insertion-preventing member 20 is made of a metal or a plastic material and comprises a holding portion 28 for holding the member 20 in the housing 12, an elastic portion 32, and an upper projection 301 and a lower projection 302. When one memory card 50 is inserted into one inserting opening 22, the projection 301 or 302 is pushed downwardly or upwardly by the memory card 50 so that the elastic portion 32 of the member 20 is deformed downwardly or upwardly, with the result that the projection 302 or 301 is extended into the other inserting opening 22. In this way, a further memory card cannot be inserted and hence only one memory card 50 is permitted to be inserted. Although the card connector achieves its purpose with the simple construction, the function of the insertion-preventing member 20 is limited to the case having only two inserting openings for memory cards one above the other.